Noticed a discussion on Afghanistan below. Not connected with Dr. A.Q. Khan and his reassuring statements. He is a top scientist in Pak., knows the dangers of a nuclear-exchange and I am glad he discounts its use against India. Now, I give some info., on AFGHANISTAN, and may be a few opinions of mine. 2500 B.C.= A wooded Afghanistan, people were Hindu Vaidic. The Vedic/Indus people saw their northern limit in central Afghanistan. Some indications that Indus civilisation spread beyond khyber into "Gandhara". Dhritharashtr, the Kaurava Prince of Haryana/Western U.P. married the princess of the Hindu King of Gandhara. Hindu Traders in touch with central Asian Hunas and Chinese to sell Cotton and Silk (India was the first to know about silk, not China) in markets close to today's Tashkent and what came to be known as the "Silk Road". 500 B.C.: Spread of Buddhism and decline of Vedic Ceremonies. Buddhist missionaries set up their Sangha and convert most of that area to Buddhism. They are followed by Jain monks who are very active in southern Afghanistan. 318-320 B.C.: Alexander (Sikandar) conquers the area, lays waste parts of the city of Gandhara. Leaves behind Greek kingdoms, his Greek and Persian troops, their families. In those days populations were much smaller than today. It was easier to conquer territories. 300 - 200 B.C. Heliodorus, the Greek King of Bactria (the Greek name for Afgh) declares himself a "Krishna Bhakta", takes on the title "Vasudeva Piyya
RE:Afghanistan Now and Then
by Kris iyer on Jun 04, 2008 12:56 PM Permalink
Cont'd: Seulucus, another Bactrian King, sends his Ambassador, Megasthanes, to the Mauryan Court in Patna (Patalipura). We owe to this Megasthanes some information on this period and to coins minted by Heliodorus and Seleucus. Afghanistan produces "Gandhara Sculpture" of the Buddha, Krishna and Vishnu [ not Shiva, surprisingly ]. You can see these at the Delhi Museum and also some of the coins including the one showing Heliodorus' Krishna Column and the words "Vasudeva Piyya". Chandra Gupta Maurya takes an army up to Gandhara, asking Seluecus to leave the area, go further West. Marries Seluecus's daughter. Most important:.....World's second UNIVERSITY opened by the Buddhists in TAXA-SHEELA or TAXILA. The first University was in NALANDA in Bihar (did not stop Bihar becoming an uncivilised place in Independent India, did it? - so past glory is no guarantee of present condition!!) 100 A.D.: The biggest statue of Bhagawan Buddha erected in BHAMIYAN by the people of Afghanistan. I forget the dimensions, but at least two or three generations of labourers would have carved it on the moutain side, using extensive scaffolding. 700 - 800 A.D.: Arab cavalry and Persian soldiers conquer Afghanistan, destroy the Sanghas and temples, enslave the Monks and "hard-core" Buddhists and sell them in the slave markets of the middle-east. The Arabs practised slavery for a long time. 800-1100 A.D. A number of small muslim kingdoms established. One of which had a scholar, Al-Beruni.
RE:RE:Afghanistan Now and Then
by Kris iyer on Jun 04, 2008 01:13 PM Permalink
Al-Beruni took trouble to travel in India, worked hard in learning some basic Sanskrit. He learnt Hindu Astronomy, Maths and other sciences. He was strongly committed to Islam and did not appreciate some of the finer details of Hinduism. He laid the foundation for the invasion of Northern India by his Kingdom. 1200 - 1800 A.D. I am taking a short-cut, because I am taking up too much space in this site. The British try to get into Afghanistan before Russia does. But is defeated by the guerilla tactics of the Afghan tribes. Britain manages to install a friendly King in Kabul and returns to "civilisation" in India!! 1800-1970: Sorry, I have made this so long. The communists depose the King and manage to bring much-needed modernity to Afghanistan. In my opinion, they did a lot of good for the Afghan people (I do not like Marxists - have to accept facts also). But the Paks and Yanks had "plans" for Afghan. "Mujahideen" were dispatched from Pak, with American weapons. Russians intervened. After a few years, they also went home. Then came the TALIBAN - No TV, no music, women who showed their angle or the jeans under the black-tent would be KILLED (I saw a clip of a woman being shot dead in a Kabul Baazaar). They organised a canon fire on the Bhamiyan Buddha to the shouts of "Allah Hu Akbar", still could not destroy the huge Statue. At least 50 years of work by their ancestors was seriously damaged. Is it any surprise that people who saw that clip think badly of Islam?
RE:Afghanistan Now and Then
by VENURAJA gopal Bowenpalle on Jun 04, 2008 04:31 PM Permalink
Now you can see the steel structure called the caste system of Hindus. As long as (and it was very long period in the world history for hundered of years) there was Hinduism in Afganisthan, it was powerful , prosperous trading centre and the entry point to India, Gandhara (present Kandhahar) was a beautiful place where peace reigned and culture and art took the first place. Once Buddhism came ,destroying Hinduism and its steel frame , gone was the strenght , to face the attacking tribals and Isamic war lords from middle east. It was easy for them to convert all these Buddhists to Islam. And then the present state of anarchy,disease and poverty. Mind you still there are about 0.5% of Hindus in this country. Their most ancient museum was destroyed,Buddha statues were blown up. Agriculture ,art and culture were gone and only opium,ganja cultivation started and traded. Afaganisthan , in some areas people cut grass ,boil and eat. It has become destination for all smugglers. supplier of smugglers as well. In India Islam went to peak,ruled the entire country and yet as you may know , went in to defence to protect its religion let alone converting the Hindus. They could not answer the Bhakti cult and as a reply they had to bring forth the Sufi saints. Sufisim was the result of Hindu Bhakti cult. And actually Islam in India absobed many Hindu ideas,family systems,eating habits and dressing for women and men. Whereas Buddhism in Afganistan went into a tailspin.
